We celebrated our baby girl with close family members & our tiny house was bursting with gifts, laughter, & love.

Lots of love.

I'll be honest. In this age of Pinterest & blogs, I feel the pressure to do it all; it's only gotten worse since I became a mom. To go overboard with detailing, DIYing, & documenting..... everything. I catch myself thinking "I can't wait to blog/Instagram this!" instead of just enjoying the moment while in the moment. For Quinn's birthday, I kept it very simple (OK, I procrastinated a bit, sorry Quinnie Bug), scaled the guest list way down, & we celebrated our little girl. Hopefully I'll redeem myself next year (there I go again).In the end, she didn't care about decor, cake, or even new toys (the packaging was another story). She just wanted us.

So wesimply soaked up the moments. Because she will never be this age again.

I've thought that often as she grows by leaps & bounds these days!

DIY paper roses using this tutorial (added dots of glue here & there to hold the "petals"):

"Aw yeah, gonna get my party on......"

See the blurry grape in the foreground?Quinn is actually looking straight at the camera. I'm looking at the grape.

Quinn was quite skeptical w/ her smash cake. Is my baking that bad?! I didn't know whether to laugh or be proud of her caution.

"I don't want to play with my new toys.......I like this recipe booklet that Grammy brought."

Looks like y'all had a great time celebrating Q's first year! And yes- Pinterest (and blogging, and the Internet in general) adds way too much pressure on being the "perfect" mom. But you're absolutely right- being present and enjoying the moment should be our focus.

Such a gorgeous party! You took the words right out of my mouth -- I get overwhelmed with the pressure for everything to perfect and perfectly documented (although without a blog) due to all of the social media. This was a nice reminder to just enjoy the moments for what they are and not to be too consumed with details. Quinn's a lucky lady! Happy 1st bday, Q! I didn't realize her and Nora were so close in age -- we have her first bday coming up in three weeks! Eek!Erin

Oh boy, yep, tears. I'm such a softie now, those where-did-my-baby-go moments really get me. I'm so glad you enjoyed your party and your little girl, who cares what pinterest thinks - but for the record, everything looks amazing!! I LOVE that rose garland.

Happy belated birthday to your beyond cute little Quinn! And congrats to you mama on one year!!

After watching that video, Im a bawling mess now. Thankfully I am a SAHM, and my little guy is napping, so Im the only witness to the blurry, teary mess that is my face.

In all seriousness, congrats on Quinn's 1st bday. I've been a blog follower for way before Q made her debut, and my first little one was born about a month after Quinn was. I've enjoyed following you and Q on your journey, and it's helped me on mine.

I think her party turned out to be adorable. I'm totally with you on the Pinterest Pressure! Honestly, I think people are almost scaling back to old school low-pressure parties because it is so overwhelming to think of every.single.detail to make it "perfect". Kids are going to love any birthday party, you can tell Quinn loved hers!

FC- I love the details of Quinn's party...especially the rosette garland!!! The picture of her looking up at the chalkboard is too adorable for words! I can't believe your baby is already 1! Happy New Year! -Molly

The "Q" is just a wooden craft letter from Michael's (~$2) that I spraypainted gold (Rustoleum Mettalic Gold), hot glued bamboo skewers on the back (didn't paint those obvs. b/c they actually touch the cake & I didn't want them to be toxic), & voila.....cake topper.

OK, so this is my fourth comment that I've somehow screwed up on my new Mac. Whoops! Anyhoo--I adore you FC and your realness that makes everyone want to be your bestie. Why oh why don't we live closer? Anyhoo--Congrats to making it through this roller coaster of a ride of this first year--we're getting close too and I'm elated. You are a fabulous mom and Q is one lucky little lady. I hope her birthday was magical. : ) xoxo

Girl, let's talk cause I am right there with you about this whole Pinterest/blogging/instagram world we live in. Right after Christmas I realized I just couldn't keep up so I have semi- unplugged from social networking to spend some quality time with the monster.

Anywho, love that little girl and her constant look of skepticism. She is way too cool for school. Happy Birthday Quinniecakes!

LB

...oh and I feel you on the Movember beard-- JEGs has taken his into the new year #hatekissingascrub.

I am so w/ you on this. So glad I'm not the only one stepping back from the competition induced by social media! There's a someecard that says something like: "I aspire to be the mom you appear to be on Facebook."

Mr. FC kept growing his 'stache until just a few days ago. I was not sad to see it go.....was sad to see it grow. Though he did raise $150 through his Movember work fundraiser. Ha! =]

You are so authentic and I loe tht about you. Loving in the now is something I struggle with. Most of my job is looking ahead. Since I'm paid to be thinking about the future, I find myself doing that in my home life. I look back at nearly 8 months with Henry and hope I didn't miss anything while I was thinking about the next big thing.

Q may just be the sweetest little thing ever. I love her dress and her sass.

Happy (belated) Birthday sweet girl! And the Carter's commercial? Oh God. I cry just thinking about it. Oh, and Pinterest... she's the new Alpha-Mom who no one can keep up with. It's a blessing and a curse. I've definitely stepped back from blogging since it feels like nothing I'll do will be as good as something I can find on Pinterest...which is pretty sad. But, that gives me a whoooole lot more time to spend with my almost-one-year-old. So I guess I win in the end!

Thanks so much for dropping by my blog & for your kind comments! The tufted club chairs were vintage finds I snagged almost 10 yrs ago at a thrift store in my area (painted the arms & legs myself). http://freckleschick.blogspot.com/2009/01/have-seat.html

I believe Overstock might have similar looking chairs (maybe search "tufted linen club chair"?). I've had readers also tell me they've had luck searching their local Craigs List.

Oh dear, I'm afraid to watch this video everyone is talking about! I think, for being last minute, your party snack table and decor looked beautiful. As did your daughter. See, even when you aren't SUPER trying, things look awesome. That is talent. And, I don't know what I'm doing with my child right now, too...glad yours survived, that means I've got a good chance of Ash seeing 1. HAHappy (belated) Birthday, Quinn!